Hay breaker



Patented July 27, 1943 This invention relates to and hasfor anobject the provision of an improvedtype of hay breaker, v sometimes referred to as a pulverizer or grinder -by means vei? 'which dry hay is'fed` to the` center ofi-a rapidly rrotating mill enclosed vi-nV a suitable housing-'and adapted tOgr-indor pulverizetlie hay and from which the ground material isdeliveredv peripherallyforuse.

I am aware that other. mills` have been-heretofore used for'su-bstantiallytiie sam'e purpose but I have ascertained that for severalii'easonSl-mills f now inuse are proneto-become cloggeidabecause i `ofA a-failureto completelyfbreak'up the'haylinto sumciently fine particles capable? of'deliy'ery' from 'the' millgf-and additionallygthe motioned-forced l: Ydraft ei-.riployed V for inducing-a -iiow of-...the niatet Fig. 2. is a Centra-1 vertical' sectional elevation I.thereof Y.

Fig. 3.115 a .mp pianl'viiew, showing. the Carine@ tion `with the mill of motor'andfsuitabledriw Briefly described, thernill oimy `invention inzc-ludesa metal housing A vof cylindrloa'l-form having arear Wall'v Il, a circular walli2-andsa front' Walli B'Wlthin Which is'.iotatably Vmounted 5110 a rotor B having aback but, l'sllg-htlyzlspaced fromwallki Vaisid'fa;Y stationary annular vscreen C 'wana plurality @perforation-se `of suitabiesize 'rial intoandirom tliernill is" ineicient diie' -to 4Vari improper k.arrangement of tlfieiriternalliparts Y oithemill'. .-.i

My invention comprehends the 'provision of a-mill4 which has an aXiallydisposed feed' for' delivering Athe Vilbrousl'materialyintontne center of a rapidlyrotatingY element which is' provided 'With'-.pins or projections` disposedparallelltotlie airis-thereof, a screen? With orifices' ai'irang'edin suicient number and oi` siiitablisize-forfmoviti'g the broken particles tlierethrollfghl,fA and 4a. fan outwardly ofthe: screen rforiinducing a 'constant iioW of theground materials intoran- 'outer an+ nularcharnber which isicon-nectedfuiitha'nl eccentrically' disposed outlet from whichthe material is delivered-for use. l

andnuinbeif exten'din'gientirely aroundthescreen. Housing A ,has an enlarged 'jcentral opening l .e Whichfis covered by'V the'v moutlii of aifeedlhopper .A Vlanden outlet ..8 which is Lta'ngentially disposed Vrelative ,mlm-e axis offlthelhousirig-and yiii-ay .bez v connected with; a pipe V9 ionconyeyingxthe' prodi i ucts'of the mill outwardlytopoints-.of usage'and disposition. `Said housingfisf adaptedjtogbe "suit-1 ablyV mounted o'na fabricated framegl whichlm'ay shaft-.fizgwnicni is. coupledby an suitabievmeaiis le totnefshaft eframotorv and preferably directlyconnected With Said'i'notor for. providing A "rapid rotation-of therotor*Bi The liront 311is preferablyeseparately iorrriedv Aso-as .toi 'overlie an annular flangek l-4f formed on' Ahousing Aand; tofwliich' itis attached .as'by means' An object -of theinventionris-to! provide sta- -tionary members interiorly of :the 'screen which combinewith the-rotatablepinsor' projections on the rotor to lbreak up thestrandsof hay' into ne particles `and assure the expulsionofsaid particles throughlihe screen into the annular -ofrboltsz 5. liviemlie'r 3. alsoshasanf annularifiange .Tand Ysaid flanges are-connected." as by Ameans-.of

vbolts i8; Hopper 'l has' a mouthfl9--atthe1topzof itliemachine. adaptedv to receive riiateria-lsfto be treated byv theY machine, f l" .Screen Csis .alsoi of .annular in? operating positionmeansorbolts I8 with,

induced draft passage or chamber, so as to reduce 1 if not actually eliminatethe possibility of clogging the rotor with unexpelled material. Y

A furtherobject is toprovide a mill yfor pulf verizing yhay which is simple in'itsstructuralA arrangement, economical and-which has a maximum of efficiency. Other objects may appear as the description progresses.

I have shown a preferred form .of mill enibodying my improvements in the accompanying drawing, subject to modification, Within the scopev of the appended claims, Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In said drawing:V

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the mill,` partly in section;

its rear edeeabutting tlieWebItQf rotorBrVA "Said K vrotor has a' pluralityof round pinsil attached to Web and extending on parallelY axes from said web in the direction oftherhopper vl and y through a plate 2 iwhicli abutsweb 4 and rotates therewith. Said :plate 2 IV slightly telescopes screen Cl so 'as to` insure the exhaust of the inaterialthrough the screen only; Rotor B also is l provided With a plurality offsquare or Vfaceted pins Z2 at points very close to the inner surface of screen 'C tend to grind or break up the material into'ne particles during` theioperation of f,

the machine, the grinding operation being lfacilitated iii cooperation with apair or more of fixed plates 23 which have right angular portions 245 Welded to the wall I of the hopper,v the grinding pins 22 thereby are rotatable between the s creenY C and the outer surfaces 'of the plates 23 soas.

formand is inem;

to completely break up the strands of hay` into line particles which may be expelled through the oriflces of the screen,

Intermediate the screen C andthe annular wall `2 of the'housing A I provide a plurality of fan blades 25 of suitable cross section which are attached by welding or otherwisel to the web 4 of the rotorand rapidly rotate in an' annular air chamber 26 between'the screen and"` wall 2 for` the purpose oflproviding an induced draft in said' chamberjand in'rtheispace within thescreen for Y expellingV the ground particles of material suction, the materials readily flow from the interior of the screen and therethrough to said chamber and are expelled by the draft therein through pipe 9 for use.

The provision of the automatically operable valve 29 at the rear of the housing provided a v free air inlet shouldthe interior of the mill for V`any reason become congested suiciently to impair the operation of the machine and the sucthrough the orifices of the screen and thence outwardly from chamber 26 through Vthe outlet 8 and pipe 9 for ultimate disposition. 1

Housing A has a rearwardly projecting exten* l `tion cannot at any time become diminished to an appreciable extent. The adjustment of weight I r32 on arm 3l adapts the valve 29 to modified conditions of use and of course increases or decreases the eort required Ato operate the valve.

Y hopper l and when rotor is operating at a high Y sion 21 with an opening 2li-inV the end 'thereof which is adapted to belcovered by-l an. aut0matii cally operable valve 29 which is pivoted at 30 on the housing and has an arm 3| on the rear portion ofv which is azweight 32 adapted to be adjustably held in position on said armV by means A of one or more lock nuts 33. lSaid weightcp-Y In operation, the material is deposited in the speed through power supplied from a source, as for instance, the motor M, the stranded dry hay is drawn into the center of the rotor by suction Vcreated in the chamber 26 and is engaged and initially broken up into fine particles bythe pins 2D.v As the material thus initially treated is moved outwardly by centrifugal force and sucerates to hold ythe'valve 29 closed until the suction built up in the annular chamber 26 is sufcient to openY the valve against the pull of weight 32, in which caseair is introduced into said chamber through the extension 21 and the air. spaceibetween the web #and therear wall I-ofthe'housing. f y q 1 I am aware that other devices for a similar purpose have been usedrbut such devices depend upon the suction within the areak den'ednby'the screentoexhaust Vthelpulverized material from the mill and should the mill .become clogged with Wet haythe breaking upzprocess'is prevented or retarded to theextent that air cannot be drawn terial cannot'be expelled. Y. l .Y

I haveovercome theabove mentioned difliculthrough themill and-as a consequence the ma- Y l ,Vtiesby the provision'of` the annular draftlcham Y l ber.26 externally of the `screen and thefstationary plates 23 between which andthe screen the material is forced whenthe mill; is inoperation for producing a grindingxelect Yinsteadof merely a breaking up of thefhay by reason` of theY action l of theinternalpins. Moreover, in millsfor this purpose heretOOreknOWn the screenfisfusually mouth offthe discharge.` Hence, the onlyopportunity for the expulsionof the broken up material is vthrough but asegment of a screen; In my improved Vmilliwith the annular air chamber 26 extending` entirely around the screen-rand the screen being. circularpa greatergarea is provided for the expulsion 'of the` materials than is posfsible 'in other devices now` in use and the air chamber 26 at all times having anguninterrupted tion the material is further subjected tothe grinding action oi .the pins22, and the plates 23 immediately adjacent the inner surface of the screen C and the ,resultant particles are readilydispersed through the orifices 5 Aof the screen into chamber 26 and vthrough and from said chamber outwardly for use through pipe 9.

What Iolaim is: j Y Y 1. A'pulverizingmill comprising: ra cylindrical housing with an axiallydisposed inlet formaterial; a rotor in said-housing, an annular screen stationarily held on the front of said housing Aand telescoping a Yportion-fof said rotorwllereby to provide a milling chamber internally of said screen and an annulansuction chamber externally of 'said screen, blades carried by said rotor and rotatable in said'suction chamber,Y and a plurality Vof frpulverizing elements carried by said rotor at differentA distances from the axis thereof androtatable within said milling chamber, said suction chamber havingjan `outlet whereby the pulverized material may befexhausted from the d milling chamberthrough said screen, said suci tion chamber and saidoutlet, said mill including 'semi-cylindrical :indus-positioned' oppositey the 

